PROS: -So much selection and specialty foods…read more -FREE Parking lot across the street -Clean Bathrooms- not in the store, but on the premises. -Friendly and knowledgeable staff. -Fresh produce and flowers- locally grown! KEEP IN MIND -It can get BUSY- depending on the time of day and week -with that said, even with the parking lot, it may be full and you'll have to find street parking. -Considering how crowded it can get, navigating around the store can be a little tricky, esp. with a cart. -It can a little overwhelming especially if it's your first time there AND it's busy. I always love coming here! But I go when it's not peak hours bc when it's busy, it's like Costco, so be mentally prepared AND patient- with other customers and the staff.

I never knew about Berkeley Bowl Marketplace until my wife told me about it years ago. We recently…read moretook a friend to BBM, and she was very impressed with their produce and variety. I mean you can find so many different variety of apples, oranges, mushrooms, etc. [From the internet] "Unmatched Variety: The store is celebrated for carrying dozens of varieties of single items--such as 15 different kinds of apples or half a dozen types of artichokes." For example, Chocolate Navel Oranges: a rare citrus tree variety featuring a unique deep bronze-brown rind and sweet, low-acid, bright orange flesh. The taste of a Chocolate Navel Orange is exceptionally sweet, rich, and mellow, often described as a "gourmet" upgrade to a standard orange. Starkrimson Pears: a striking, sweet, and juicy late-summer variety distinguished by its vibrant crimson-red skin and thick, stocky stem. Pink Pearl Apples: a rare heirloom variety featuring translucent, yellow-green skin and a striking, vibrant bright-pink flesh. Crisp and juicy with a tart to sweet-tart taste, offering tangy berry and subtle grapefruit notes. Come check out this local gem! Support your local businesses.

I suggest this grocery for vegetarians and vegans. Berkeley Natural Grocery has less meats than…read moreanyone as far as I know.

Yeah no. Back in the mid 2000s, til about 2012, I regularly shopped in this small local,…read moreemployee-owned grocers because it was close to where I lived, I prefer small, neighborhood markets, and I liked that everything was organic. I liked the long-time manager Michael (now many years retired). I was out of state for about 10 years, and returned a few years ago. I have dropped in here now and then for an item or two (or just to use the restroom, which is always very clean), and left empty-handed each time because the prices are laughably exorbitant. You can tell a lot about a business - grocers or other - by the mood or attitude when you walk in. I don't know if employees have been burned by bad customers or if it is just more post-pandemic 'Weltschmerz,' but whenever I stopped in here I never felt welcomed, or as though the staff actually enjoy working here. I hear no customer-staff friendly banter, see hardly any smiles. It is just stony-faced, entitled (mostly white) people getting what they need, not interacting with or making eye contact with others, much less exchanging smiles or friendly "hellos." It is one more example of the bratty coldness that has taken over most of Berkeley, which breaks my heart. This used to be a lovely market to call my "neighborhood market," but absolutely no longer is. Before any employees or the manager chime in with a response to defend their laughably exorbitant prices by reminding me of how small a market they are - whoa there, little kitties - your prices are still higher than Monterey Market up the road or another employee-owned market, Berkeley Bowl. I can't even afford to puchase a bottle of mustard here, and must get it at Trader Joes. Be honest: This market is for VERY WEALTHY PEOPLE ONLY or for people who DON'T MIND MAXXING OUT THEIR CREDIT CARDS HERE so that they can feel like one of the "cool kids" for shopping here. Your produce is beautiful, your shop very spic 'n span clean, I appreciate that you offer non-GMO and Fair Trade groceries, but you could do better, truly, by making the less-than-ridiculously wealthy people feel more welcome here. You'd have to care about us first though.

Stopped by Shattuck Market and overall it was an okay experience, but the customer service felt a…read morebit unprofessional. One interaction with an employee came across unnecessarily blunt and made the environment feel a little uncomfortable. The store itself is fine and has what you need, but a more polite and consistent approach to customers would improve the experience a lot. Not terrible, just room for improvement on the service side.

This is a reliable market super close to where I live and the owner is incredibly friendly and…read morehelpful. Such a neighborhood gem compact with helpful essentials!

Love this place! Healthy, nutrient dense prepared foods at reasonable prices. Great to have these…read moreprepared foods to eat on busy weekdays. There's no place like it!

Everything is so expensive. There was a tiny fair trade chocolate bar for 15$. If you go up the…read morestreet a few blocks you can get a fair trade dark chocolate bar from Trader Joe's that's four times the size for under 4 dollars. I think this places wants to seem down to earth and accessible to all but at those prices it's only accessible to people with a lot of disposable income. I get that it's hard to make really high quality food with good ingredients at affordable prices so I don't really have the answer.

avocados and blueberries are amazing. Even with inflation selection and quality is pretty great…read more Also, they're selling amazing tamales that are delicious in the frozen section. Finally, Staff is friendly. love this place!

I was overall very happy with Monterey Market and I found it to be everything I hoped Berkeley Bowl…read morewould be and was not. Tons of produce and most things were great. On a Saturday morning, I found parking without much trouble and checkout was reasonable too. They have a huge selection of Rancho Gordo beans, the local yogurt and milk brands (Clover, Strauss) I prefer, many varieties of produce, good quality bread, and some bulk goods. The variety of the produce beats most if not all stores I've been to in the area and the quality and freshness was great too. The only reason I give them 4 and not 5 stars is they do have some items on the more expensive side and that are less than ideal especially if you get them out of season. For example, I paid almost $9 for a few peaches and they were pretty bad. But as long as you pay attention to what you are buying and buy what looks and smells good, you should be good. As a bonus, they source from a few of my favorite Bay Area farms including the one my CSA is from. Huge mushrooom selection- they seem priced higher than some Asian stores and sometimes farmer's markets but the selection is very good. My one thing is they definitely seem to go for volume and breadth of selection so it seems like that means selling non peak produce that is out of season in some cases. Overall, I'm a fan and this will probably be a somewhat regular trip for me.

A tiny family quick market, owned and operated by Marcos, a long time service industry veteran. If…read moreyou're a neighbor, come check him out and tell him what you like to see on hand.

I love my neighborhood spot with Marco at the helm. Positive…read morevibes always and can always grab Something needed in a pinch.

There is a good selection of healthy ingredients and the owners are super friendly and helpful. The…read moreprepared food is amazing - delicious Brazilian treats made fresh every day. It has an old fashioned grocery store feel. It's a pleasure to shop there!

2 stars cuz the pão de queijo was really good but points off because I feel like the workers were…read moregossiping about me after I ordered it. My Portuguese isn't perfect, but at least I tried. Geez. I don't think I'll be stopping by again anytime soon.

Beautiful little convenience/grocery store in the waterfront District of Berkeley serving vegan to…read moremeat sandwiches delicious soup of the day and grab and go items as well as produce and beverages.

We are so lucky to have this sweet store on our block. Amazing selection of foods including…read moreexcellent homemade soups, fresh bread and vegetables. Super nice staff.

A really nice place with a good assortment of halal meat and groceries…read more Very good costumer service

As an Algerian living in the United States, it breaks my heart that I have to write this review. I…read morelove my community, and I make a point of supporting small businesses, especially those owned by Arab, North African, and Muslim families because they remind me of home. My family, friends, and I have shopped here for a long time, but after what happened today, that will no longer be the case. With the World Cup playing, I knew this store was selling Algerian jerseys. I wanted to surprise two of my American friends who have been proudly supporting Algeria by buying them jerseys. Today, I asked a friend to stop by the store and buy two jerseys. The employee working at the store today 06/30/25 between approximately 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. told my friend that the jerseys were $40 each. My friend noticed the jerseys did not have the star on them and politely asked whether they could be $35 instead (we had previously purchased 2 jerseys that had 2 stars and were $40) . The employee responded by saying, "As a matter of fact, I'll charge you $45." My friend asked why and even mentioned that he was Algerian, hoping there might be some flexibility. Instead, according to my friend, the employee responded by calling him a homophobic slur in Arabic. My friend is one of the kindest people I know. He wasn't rude, he wasn't disrespectful, and he wasn't looking for an argument. He simply wanted to buy two jerseys. Rather than make a scene, he paid for the jerseys and left. He later called me, and hearing how hurt and humiliated he was absolutely broke my heart. No customer should ever have to experience that. It is disgusting, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.Whether you personally agree with someone's sexuality is your own business. However, when you are working in customer service, your job is to treat every paying customer with basic human dignity and respect. Calling someone a slur because of who they are or as a matter of fact who you think they are has absolutely no place in any business. An employee represents the business they work for. Their actions reflect on the store and its management. If this employee felt comfortable speaking to a customer this way, I have to question what kind of environment allows that behavior. I'm not asking for special treatment, not asking anyone to change their personal or religious beliefs. I am asking for the bare minimum: RESPECT . Every customer who walks through your doors deserves to be treated with courtesy regardless of their race, religion, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation. I am very interested to see how the owners respond to this review. If what happened to my friend is consistent with how customers are treated, I believe it deserves to be taken seriously. No one should be subjected to homophobic slurs while simply trying to make a purchase. If they choose not to address this, I will consider reporting the incident to the appropriate agencies and organizations that handle discrimination complaints, as well as sharing my experience on other review platforms. This isn't about seeking revenge it's about expecting every customer to be treated with basic dignity and respect. I have always made an effort to support Arab, North African, and Muslim-owned businesses because they represent my community and my culture. That support, however, should never come at the expense of basic human decency. Until this matter is properly addressed, neither I, my family, nor my friends will be returning or recommending this business to others.

Amazing selection of organic and fresh food, they had some interesting things for the house as well…read morebesides soaps and cleaning things I definitely would love to come back to this grocery store. This is a local store my friend shop at we just happened to stop by to get some dinner stuff. Super friendly staff great service at checkout and the store was the cleanest store I've ever been in. Definitely planning to stop in again before I head back to Los Angeles.

The cashier was a public relations nightmare if this were a world where it matters that she was a…read morerude, assumptive racist. I need to eat a certain way and now I have to figure out where else I can go. Because the food there is what I need even if it's pricey. I just wish that it wasn't a place that I never wanted to go back to.